Investment Advisor magazine and Prima Capital announced today that six portfolio management teams have been chosen as winners of the 2008 Separately Managed Accounts (SMA) Awards.
This is the fourth year that Investment Advisor and Prima Capital have partnered to identify separate accounts that are best in class. This year, there are six winners in five categories including Large-Cap U.S. Equity, Mid-Cap Domestic Equity, Small-Cap Domestic Equity, International Equity, and Fixed Income.
The SMA Award winners are profiled in Investment Advisor's April cover story and online at www.investmentadvisor.com beginning April 1. The winners are:
- Appleton Tax-Exempt Municipal, managed by a team including Senior Vice President, Fixed Income, and Portfolio Manager Anson Clough. This is the third consecutive year that Appleton has won in the fixed-income category;
- Congress Large-Cap Growth, which is run by the firm's Large-Cap Growth Investment Policy Committee. Dan Lagan, Congress's Chief Investment Officer and President, heads the team;
- C. S. McKee Small-Cap Core Equity, managed by a team including Lead Portfolio Manager Phu O;
- Eagle International Equity, managed by a team including Partners Eddie Allen, John Gualy, Thomas Hunt, and Steven Russo. This two-time winner also received the SMA Award for international equity in 2005;
- Geneva Mid-Cap Growth, run by Portfolio Managers Amy Croen, William Priebe, Michelle Picard, and Scott Priebe. This is the second year in a row that Geneva Mid-Cap Growth received the Mid-Cap SMA Award; and,
- Thornburg Value Equity, which is run by co-portfolio managers Bill Fries, Edward Maran, and Connor Browne. This is the fourth consecutive SMA Award for Thornburg in the U.S. large-cap equity category.
"Advisors performing asset allocation work on behalf of their high-net-worth clients need to know who the best managers are; Prima's unparalleled data and analysis provides valuable guidance for our readers to gain that knowledge," said Investment Advisor Editorial Director Jamie Green.
To be eligible for consideration, a separately managed account must have at least $200 million in assets, lead-manager tenure of three years or more, be widely available for distribution by investment advisors and wealth managers, and rank above-average in at least four of the five categories identified by Prima. The categories include firm quality, depth of resources, level of client service and customization, tax efficiency, and performance. Data was based on year-end 2007 statistics.
This year's SMA Award Selection Committee included Prima Capital President J. Gibson (Gib) Watson, III, CIMAŽ, Investment Advisor Editorial Director Jamie Green, and Senior Editor Kathleen McBride, Prima Capital Chief Investment Officer Cliff Stanton, CFA, and his colleague, Nathan Behan, CFA, Prima's Director of Research.
"In today's challenging markets when many financial theories are being questioned, the one principle that continues to hold true is that investment quality is the Holy Grail" said Mr. Watson. "This year's SMA Award winners represent the types of all-weather investments that advisors and their clients should consider because they offer clear investment philosophies, repeatable processes, consistent performance and peace of mind."
With a circulation of 110,000, Investment Advisor is now in its 28th year of serving independent and independent-minded investment advisors and financial planners across the United States. Investment Advisor, part of Summit Business Media, LLC, offers information and analysis on wealth management, retirement planning, investment strategies, practice management, compliance and regulatory issues, and insurance and tax planning, all designed to help registered investment advisors and independent broker/dealer representatives become more successful.
Prima Capital is a leading provider of wealth management solutions to banks, broker dealers and trust companies. Prima conducts objective, institutional-quality research and due diligence on separately-managed accounts, mutual funds, ETFs and alternatives. Strong proponents of investment quality, Prima's analysts uncover "best of breed" separate account managers who deliver consistently strong returns with considerably less risk than their competitors. Prima also offers portfolio strategy and advice to executives who oversee multi-manager wealth management programs. The company recently launched multi-manager portfolios - Prima Target Risk Portfolios and Prima Target Date Portfolios - which bundle the best managers from Prima's objective research into a portfolio. Please visit the website at www.primacapital.com for additional information